Friends,
For those who have been receiving the From the Four Directions e-newsletter, you will notice a shift in frequency and format, beginning with this edition. We are now sending the newsletter once every two months, rather than monthly. This provides us with a bit more time to do other needed work and connecting. Our intent remains the same -- to connect life affirming leaders, particularly through telling stories.
For many of us, the need to be in meaningful conversation and connection is more important than ever. Whether our concerns are about global politics, economics, the environment, health and human services, local community development, personal relations, or family, many of us feel it essential to turn to one another now.
From the Four Directions offers a simple, yet powerful way, for people to be in meaningul conversations. We are a global leadership initiative of the Berkana Institute. We support leaders -- anyone who wants to help -- in ongoing conversations about life affirming leadership. Many of us need a place to strengthen our clarity and our courage to lead on behalf of the issues that we most care about. From the Four Directions offers this. We all want to make a difference. That difference begins with our stories.
Tenneson Woolf
Lead Weaver, From the Four Directions
A Story of Life Affirming Leadership
Guillermo Arenas Seleey
Bucaramanga, Columbia
A Story of New Beginnings --
A Circle in Louisville, Kentucky
Lana Wertz
Louisville, Kentucky, USA
An Invitation
Join Us
View this letter online at www.fromthefourdirections.org/tpl/history.html.
A Story of Life Affirming Leadership
Guillermo Arenas Seleey
Bucaramanga, Columbia
"I consider my personal growth at a remarkable point as a result of involvement with the leadership goals of From the Four Directions (F4D) and Berkana Institute. My life and the meaning of leadership have been changed substantially by F4D. After the F4D Practicum (2001) and my subsequent learning through Berkana, I now know better how to serve my community.
Working with members of the The Sotomayor Rotary Club, the Real State Association of Bucaramanga, the Chamber of Commerce, and The Industrial University of Santander, I have been incorporating skills learned from involvement in From the Four Directions to shape a Civic Coexistence Project.
Bucaramanga has been distinguished as the "Cordial City" of Columbia. However, due to its growth and some national circumstances, its people have lost social sense, solidarity, civic respect, care of the environment, and other aspects of coexistence that have deteriorated the quality of life in the city.
To recover those qualities, we want to advance a cultural project centered in values that achieve a deep effect and are long lasting among the inhabitants of Bucaramanga. A project of change, of great social impact. A project that is not reduced to campaigns of publicity, interests of groups, fleeting interests, or opportunism of diverse types.
People of different
associations and institutions have been meeting and pondering the idea
of improving the quality of life of the city in a culture of peace through
the coexistence of cordiality and solidarity. This project is supported
in the F4D initiative of Berkana and will rely on the power of linking
into the network of others involved and dedicated to change through effective
and life-affirming leadership. Proposals have been developed and the first
circles are intended to convene in February 2003.
I have recently been very busy helping to solve a serious conflict at
my university; an interesting experience to share with people of Berkana.
I am working as a professor for the Industrial University of Santander,
one of the most important public universities in the country with around
20,000 students. During the last months the university has suffered political
agitation and violent protests of a small extremist group of students
and infiltrated people of extremist orientation. One student was killed
during a street conflict so they stopped classes.
After the Arizona
Leadership Practicum I have been teaching Circles and Leadership to the
students of Management courses following the guidelines of F4D and Meg
Wheatley's papers, change theory and principles of Berkana and F4D. So
we were working with a group of professors, suggesting to the students
to organize the students community, weaving their network to build a democratic
force. A few students began calling their partners, and so using the force
of small groups conversing about their goals and their interest for the
university, dialogue, intelligent reflection, objective thought and conversation
in diversity through the Internet, using e-mail and group meetings they
grew from a group of 50 students to thousands.
During the decisive assembly, before dominated by extremist leaders and
a reduced audience of 200 or 300 students, they got to gather thousands.
The extremist groups intended to maintain the strike but the new leaders
with intelligent reflection about the university as a center of knowledge
got an election to reject the strike. As a result of the voting, 90% declared
normality and to return to academic activity. The process of participation
is changing and the university was reopened in peace.
I believe this is an interesting experience of gathering in circles, and
is an emergent phenomenon of a more powerful force of change than the
movements of anarchy and violence."
Connect with Guillermo Arenas
Seleey
A Story of New Beginnings
-- A Circle in Louisville, Kentucky
A New From
the Four Directions Circle in Louisville, Kentucky
Lana Wertz
It wasn't the 20 years of experience in corporate life, or the years
teaching languages in college, high school, and the job corps, or even
the six years involved in executive coaching with management teams that
moved Lana Wertz of Louisville, Kentucky to commit to organizing a From
the Four Directions Conversation Circle.
It WAS the coming together of the "right" time and circumstances that
prompted the forming of a circle of 12 diverse, yet like-minded people
to meet monthly from 7 - 8:30 p.m. to study, explore, and grow in life-affirming
leadership.
For Lana, a member of the Berkana Board of Directors, becoming acquainted
with a member of United Way of Louisville provided the catalyst needed
to move ahead. It was something Lana had wanted to do since her involvement
in the development of From the Four Directions several years ago. Twelve
people from somewhat diverse backgrounds were invited to participate,
and twelve people said yes! The timing was right!
From the very first meeting, Lana indicates there was a feeling of bonding
and a shared knowledge that the group was participating in something unique
and important to the blossoming of their skills and talents. The group
has had two meetings - the first an exploration of needs and wants; the
second a discussion of experiencing "sacred." Experiencing "leadership"
will be the focus of the next gathering.
An important component for this new circle is the absence of "curriculum."
Each member, life-filled with responsibilities and demands, needs the
time for open caring, sharing, and support which includes more vision
and less stress--that provides the opportunity to understand personal
gifts and help those grow while living a healthy, life with integrity.
From the Four Directions offers a natural space to learn a process for
effective conversation circles to develop life-affirming leadership. For
those participating, the next six months are filled with anticipation
of clarity, community, and deeper learning that comes from being together.
Connect with Lana Wertz and this Louisville F4D Circle
An Invitation to Join The From the Four Directions Network
Our network now includes more than 1,600 people in more than 30 countries. We would love to have you join us in this work.
- make a financial donation to support this work in this time
- start a From the Four Directions circle
- participate in a circle
- tell your story of life-affirming leadership
- share your learning
- connect us to additional networks
- weave circles together
- join our listserve (for those who had this newsletter forwarded to them or who found it on our website)
- participate in other Berkana Institute initiatives
Thanks to volunteer, Barbra Hoge for collecting and compiling
the stories and links in this edition.